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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833405">An Encounter Of The Strange And Supernatural Kind</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallxir/pseuds/smallxir'>smallxir</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(sorta) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Comedy, Demon!Kokichi, M/M, Trans Saihara Shuichi, because i rlly do be projecting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:42:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,598</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833405</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallxir/pseuds/smallxir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Being exhausted and burnt out from work, Shuichi decided to go out partying with a few of his co-workers and got drunk, bringing a gorgeous-looking stranger to his home. But this stranger may not be just pretty looks. Underlying all of that may be a small, supernatural secret...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Implied Hajime Hinata/Komaeda Nagito, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>124</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Encounter Of The Strange And Supernatural Kind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shuichi Saihara was a simple, unassuming and run-of-the mill detective. He had a fairly ordinary life, filled with (what he considered to be) mundane detective work. Most of Shuichi’s day would consist of filling out incidental reports, missing persons reports, and very rarely would he be able to work on an actual crime.</p><p>He was supposed to be a detective. Shouldn't he be out in the field working on cases, and not slaving away filling out paperwork all day? But Shuichi would often begrudgingly admit to himself that the reports were just as important as field work was, which was the one of the reasons he did his work so well. Another was just simply because he hated confronting people or complaining.</p><p>Despite Shuichi being very withdrawn and kept to himself, he was decently liked by his more outgoing co-workers, meaning that he was invited to social gatherings at bars and clubs every now and then.</p><p>However, ‘being introverted’ and ‘going to a small place filled with many people, under the impression that you’re supposed to socialise with people that you don’t know or don’t know well and get piss drunk on a bunch of beers,’ wasn’t really Shuichi’s thing. So he usually brushed off the invitations as politely as possible, mumbling about having paperwork (which was true) or babysitting his cousins (not true, he didn’t have any cousins).</p><p>But one day Shuichi was just so burnt out from work, he needed to distract himself. Typing out reports for the entire week without rest was starting to make him go crazy, so much to his co-worker’s surprise and delight, he was actually willing to go.</p><p>Shuichi stood in front of his bathroom mirror, studying the bags under his eyes with exasperation, pulling out a makeup kit to at least make himself look somewhat presentable. He really hoped he wouldn’t be making any mistakes that would potentially get him in trouble, or worse, fired.</p><p>You won’t get in trouble. You can just have a few drinks and stay mostly sober.</p><p>Shuichi maybe had a few too many drinks, had a few hours of drunken conversation with a pretty male stranger, who he ended up taking home and who he was now making out with furiously on his crappy apartment couch.</p><p>“Nishishi! You’re a terrible kisser, you know that?” The stranger in question giggled, grinning down at Shuichi with twinkling violet eyes. Messy purple hair framed his sweet-looking face, contrasting his sharp and blunt words. Dim yellow lights from the apartment gave the stranger a heavenly appearance from where he was sitting on Shuichi’s lap.</p><p>“Ah… S-sorry. I’m- ‘m not used to this,” If Shuichi were sober, he would’ve cringed at himself.</p><p>“Awww, what a poor widdle virgin you are!” Those words hit Shuichi like a slap to the face. “I should help you with that~” The pretty guy started to take his shirt off, revealing pale, smooth, porcelain-like skin.</p><p>Shuichi was in awe of the other’s body, but it suddenly registered in his now slightly sober brain what the implications of that were, sending him into a panic.</p><p>“Umm- I- uh, don’t really think we should do this,” Shuichi blurted out, face flushed from embarrassment and eyes laser focused on the hands dipping under his dress shirt- “I-I-I don’t even know your name!”</p><p>Pretty Guy blinked at Shuichi owlishly. Then snorted and burst into full-blown laughter.</p><p>“Oh-oh my Gods, you humans are sooooo funny!” He wiped a tear from his eye with a knuckle, still giggling.</p><p>Shuichi blinked, visibly confused by the others’ use of the word ‘human’ in this particular context.</p><p>“Well, puny human-”</p><p>“M-my name is Shuichi Saihara! And quit calling me ‘human’, it sounds weird!” Shuichi exclaimed suddenly.</p><p>“Well you, mister Shuichi Saihara, are a verrrry interesting human ~,” Pretty Guy traced a thumb over Shuichi’s bottom lip, a wry smile on his face. Shuichi’s breath hitched, clenching his sweaty hands into sweaty fists. He was really in it now.</p><p>“My name is Kokichi Ouma,” ‘Kokichi’ leaned in closer to Shuichi’s face, until his lips were mere centimetres away from Shuichi’s, grinning. “Don’t you dare forget it.” he whispered.</p><p>“I-I-I won’t.”</p><p>“Good. Now where were we?” Suddenly the grip on Shuichi’s face became slightly rougher, and the latter’s eyes were abruptly drawn to a mass of black crawling up Kokichi’s abdomen, like splashes of ink across pure white paper.</p><p>“Hmm?” A sinister smile had made its way onto the other’s face, whose hold was getting tighter and tighter by the second. “What’s wrong, Sai-har-a-chan?” There was something unnerving about the look in Kokichi’s eyes, having gone from mischievous and childish to outright malevolent. Shuichi’s words dried in his mouth, unsure if he was hallucinating or had passed out and was currently having the strangest wet dream of his life.</p><p>“I..” Shuichi’s whole body was trembling with fear, nausea overtaking his senses.</p><p>“Are you scared, Saihara-chan? Are you going to beg for mercy?” Kokichi looked like he was mad, from how wide his eyes and grin were. His eyes - which usually had a mischievous twinkle to them, were a cold and empty purple. The blackness had now spread to the latter’s hands and was steadily making its way up to his neck. “You should’ve known better than to fool around with a <em>monster</em>.”</p><p>“I think my drink was spiked,” Shuichi blurted.</p><p>“Huh?” Kokichi looked like he might as well have been smacked across the face with a slimy fish. His grip on Shuichi’s face loosened, which the detective used as an opportunity to pry the other’s hands off.</p><p>“I’m drunk and also hallucinating-” he gestured to Kokichi, who was looking more and more confused as Shuichi went on, “-whatever this is. I-I need to sleep it off.” He used what little strength he had to gather a stunned Kokichi into his arms, carrying him off to his room. Shuichi’s heart hammered in his chest, bile threatening to rise in his throat. He’d pushed far too many boundaries that night, he thought.</p><p>“Wh-what the hell are you doing?” the other protested loudly, expressing chagrin.</p><p>“You shouldn’t sleep on the couch, it’s… impolite to let guests sleep there.” Shutting the door behind him, Shuichi rushed over to set Kokichi down on the bed, yawning loudly in the process.</p><p>Kokichi mumbled something quietly under his breath about a ‘shitty couch’, pulling his knees up to his chest. Shuichi hummed in agreement, unbuttoning his white dress shirt and tossed it aside carelessly while the other guy watched him.</p><p>Shuichi then realised that Kokichi could very clearly see the top surgery scars on his chest and froze like a deer in the headlights.</p><p>“What’re those scars on your chest from?”</p><p>“Uh, they’re from, um, surgery.”</p><p>Shuichi wanted to lay down and die. He’d revealed one of his biggest secrets-to a stranger no less and was trying his damndest to not break out into an obvious cold sweat. A million thoughts ran through his anxiety-riddled brain, all pushing worst-case scenarios of what could possibly happen. He really hoped that Kokichi didn’t think less of him, even though considering what happened earlier, should not be the most pressing thought on his mind.</p><p>“Saihara-chan?”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“You look like you’re gonna pass out. Are you okay?” Kokichi had his head cocked to one side, expression neutral much like a doll's.</p><p>“I-I’m… Just tired. ” He replied awkwardly. Shuichi then flicked the lights off and hurriedly slid into bed next to Kokichi, facing away from him. It was difficult to fall asleep however, due to the adrenaline pumping through his system, plus the many intrusive thoughts swirling around in his brain.</p><p>After what seemed like a long, painful eternity of staring into the dark void of the room, Kokichi finally spoke up again.</p><p>“Were they from getting mauled by a bear or something?”</p><p>Taken aback by the absurdity of the question, Shuichi didn’t reply for a good few moments, carefully considering what to reply with.</p><p>“I-er-no? Not really? I’d have way more scars than that.”</p><p>“Did you get into a fight and someone slashed your chest with a machete?”</p><p>“What kind of person do you think I am..?”</p><p>Shuichi craned his neck to look back at Kokichi, who was grinning at him impishly.</p><p>“I dunno! You never told me what you do for a living!”</p><p>Shuichi went quiet again, turning back to face the other way.</p><p>“I’m a detective.”</p><p>Shuichi didn’t even have to be facing Kokichi’s direction to know that his eyes lit up in excitement.</p><p>“Oooh! Does this mean that Mister Detective solves crimes on the daily? Do you catch bad guys and Phantom Thieves? Do you-”</p><p>“I sit at my desk and fill out paperwork.” Shuichi bluntly cut in.</p><p>Once again, Shuichi could tell that Kokichi had become crestfallen just by the disappointed silence.</p><p>“So you didn’t get a scar from chasing bad guys… Shame. Well, goodnight!” The conversation ended there, much to Shuichi’s surprise.</p><p>Kokichi shuffled under the covers, then stilled. After a few moments, he started to let out loud, obnoxious snores, then giggled sleepily to himself.</p><p><em>What an odd person</em>, Shuichi thought to himself, eyes beginning to finally droop.<em> I can’t help but think he’s sort of charming though</em>. That being the last thought on his mind, sleep overtook him, drifting off into darkness.</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p> </p><p>“Psst, Saihara-chan, wake up!”</p><p>“...”</p><p>“Oi, Saihara-chan! Get up! It’s three in the afternoon!”</p><p>“Wait, what?” Shuichi’s eyes shot open as he bolted out of bed, clearly very much freaked out by how long he’d supposedly slept for. He couldn’t even remember what time he fell asleep the night prior, although it was certainly late. Yanking open his wardrobe, he pulled out a pair of black jeans and began to change hastily.</p><p>“Just kidding! It’s only ten am!”</p><p>Halting midway through frantically changing into his jeans, Shuichi turned to stare at the purple-haired imp that was sitting on his bed, casually dressed in a long-sleeved hoodie and shorts, looking as gleeful as ever. A sudden flurry of hazy memories from the night before flashed into his mind - making the detective feel embarrassed about what he’d said and done. A warmth crept up Shuichi’s cheeks, turning his face pink.</p><p>“Man, you should see the look on your face! You looked like someone had shown you a nasty porno!” Kokichi cackled, eyes bright and alight with elation.</p><p>Shuichi couldn’t help but sigh and roll his eyes, resuming changing into a fresh set of clothes with less urgency. After donning a plain white t-shirt and shutting his wardrobe, Shuichi turned around to see Kokichi still staring at him, observing his outfit. Still embarrassed, Shuichi averted his eyes to the floor.</p><p>“Hmmm… Good choice, Mister Detective! Your clothes really show-off how skinny and twig-like you are! You could probably pass off as a skeleton! Nishishi!”</p><p>“Erm… thanks?” Shuichi glanced up, relieved that Kokichi still referred to him as a guy, but confused at his back-handed compliment.</p><p>“Well then-” Kokichi hopped off the bed, skipping towards the detective. “I wanna eat something!” Pouting at Shuichi, he continued, “It’s a bit rude to leave a guest hungry, riiiight?”</p><p>“Don’t you have a house or apartment with, y’know, food?”</p><p>“Nooooope! I’m homeless, didn’t you know?” Shuichi stared at Kokichi incredulously, refusing to reply.</p><p>“You’re no fun…” Kokichi pouted again. “Fine, I do, but my roommate’s stupid human boyfriend is over for the weekend, and he doesn’t like me.”</p><p>Shuichi’s mind went blank for a moment. “...Human?”</p><p>“Whoopsies! Didn’t mean for that to slip through!” Kokichi snickered, glancing coyly up at Shuichi. “But you got me! I’m not exactly what you’d call… ‘human’, Nishishi!”</p><p>“W-what do you mean you’re not human? Are you telling me-”</p><p>“That what you saw last night was real? Yep!”</p><p>“N-no way! I-I-I thought someone had put something weird in my drink!”</p><p>“Aw come on, Mister Detective! I thought you were smarter than that!” Kokichi shot the detective a sly smile.</p><p>“B-B-B-But-” Shuichi stuttered out, backing away from Kokichi until his back hit the closet door.</p><p>“Aw man… here I thought you’d be the only human with an interesting reaction to me… Guess I was wrong!” Kokichi shrugged, slowly slinking like a cat towards a frazzled-looking Shuichi. Dark splotches similar to the ones from the previous night crept up Kokichi’s hands and jugular, bathing his skin in a cloudy ink. A thin, black, snake-like tail seemed to manifest itself out of nowhere, flicking incessantly around Kokichi’s leg.</p><p>“Nishishi, are you sure this is a hallucination now~?” A familiar, fiendish grin curved up the latter’s face, flashing sharp white canines.</p><p>“...” Words died in Shuichi’s mouth. There was no way that he could blame drunkenness on what he saw this time. Without the cloud of alcohol fogging his senses, Shuichi’s brain was going haywire, screaming at him to run.</p><p>But his body wouldn’t move.</p><p>“I’m honestly impressed, Mister Detective! Most people don’t usually put two and two together, surprisingly enough! But one small slip-up and you were instantly suspicious!”</p><p>“A-A-A-Are you gonna continue m-monolouging or are you gonna finish me off?” Shuchi finally managed to stutter out, eyes frantically darting around for an opportunity to escape.</p><p>“Nah. You’re too good for me to kill. Besides-” Kokichi stood about a few centimetres away from the detective, standing right on the tips of his toes to look Shuichi directly in the eye. “-I wanna keep playing with you~” Shuichi thought his heart was going to burst right out of his chest from how fast it was beating. This guy was really too much for him to handle. What on earth did he mean by ‘playing’?</p><p>“W-what do you mean?”</p><p>“What I mean is… do you wanna cook breakfast for me?”</p><p>Huh?</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Kokichi burst out into high-pitched laughter, body doubling over. Shuichi on the other hand felt like a rug had been pulled right under him.</p><p>“Come on-” Kokichi wiped his eyes, giggling. “-Did you really think I was gonna hurt you? Man, seeing the look of terror on your pretty face was funny!”</p><p>“I-It wasn’t funny to me! I don’t know what you’re even capable of!”</p><p>Kokichi suddenly pulled himself together, expression neutral and eyes unblinking. He stared at Shuichi for a few moments, then turned to face away from the latter, skipping out the bedroom door without a single word.</p><p>“H-hey, Ouma-kun! Wait!” Shuichi stumbled clumsily after him, legs feeling as if they’d been turned into jelly. Floundering his way to the kitchen, Shuichi caught Kokichi rummaging through his fridge, pulling out leftover food and setting down on the counter.</p><p>“Don’t mind me~” Kokichi replied in a cheery sing-song voice. “I’m just making myself breakfast!”</p><p>“Do monsters even eat food?” Shuichi strode over to Kokichi, subconsciously taking the leftover curry container from his hands, grabbing a plate and a spoon. Cracking open the container lid, he scooped clumps of vegetables and sauce onto the plate.</p><p>“Well, I think I should start off by saying that I’m technically a demon, not a monster. Second of all - how the hell do you not have any rice in your fridge?” Grumbling petulantly, Kokichi slammed the fridge shut, snatching the plate from Shuichi. Grabbing a chair, he sat at the modest-sized dining table next to the kitchen. “Besides - I’m only half-demon. I can eat normal food as I see fit.”</p><p>Half-demon, huh… “What can you also feed on?”</p><p>Taking a spoonful of curry, Kokichi flashed a pearly-white grin at Shuichi. “I feed on people’s emotions towards me. Whether or not it’s hate, fear, love, anger or lust, it doesn’t matter. They’re all tasty nonetheless~.” He shoved the spoon in his mouth, smirking at the detective. “And I must say, your fear was delicious!” Kokichi continued, through a mouthful of food.</p><p>“Uh… thanks?” Shuichi was in no state to process anything properly, opting to instead stare at the other sitting across the table.</p><p>Swallowing his food, Kokichi flashed another grin. “You’re welcome~”</p><p>After a few minutes of awkwardly eating in silence, Kokichi finally piped up, “Y’know, you don’t have to stare at me while I eat,” Shuichi jumped slightly. “It’s a biiiiiiiit creepy. Well, who could blame you? I am devilishly handsome after all. Nishishi!”</p><p>“Ah! S-sorry! I-uh, wanted to ask you something but wasn’t sure what to say.” The detective felt a hot flush crawl up his cheeks and ears.</p><p>“Speak your mind, Mister Detective~” Kokichi twirled the spoon around, a cocky smile on his face.</p><p>“W-well- Are there more, you know… demons or monsters roaming around?”</p><p>“Oh, plenty!” Kokichi mumbled through another spoonful of curry. “You just never notice them because they’re <em>hidden</em>.”</p><p>“...I see.”</p><p>Shuichi’s stomach growled suddenly, the latter flushing further in embarrassment. Kokichi snorted, pushing his plate over to Shuichi.</p><p>“U-um, you didn’t really have to-”</p><p>“It’s your house and your food. Besides, I wasn’t really that hungry.”</p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p>“Sheesh, just take it already!”</p><p>Shuichi gingerly took the plate and sat down, pulling out a spoon from one of the kitchen drawers and began eating. The curry was cold and oily (and kinda tasted like it had been left in the fridge for three days, which it had), but at least it was something. It would probably explain why Kokichi finished eating so quickly.</p><p>A sudden, painful ache from within his skull hit Shuichi, definitely a late effect from the previous night. Kokichi stared at him, curiously watching the detective stagger out of his chair and rummage through one of the cupboards, pulling out a couple of painkillers. Grabbing a cup and filling it with water from the tap, Shuichi downed the pills, setting his drink down in the sink once finished.</p><p>“Saihara-chan!”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“When you’re done eating, will you walk me home? It’s so scary out there by myself! Poor widdle me, being lusted after by nasty humans!” Staring at Shuichi fearfully, the half-demon looked like he was going to cry.</p><p>“Why should I trust you?” Shuichi asked, taking another bite of curry.</p><p>“Whaddya mean?”</p><p>Swallowing, he replied; “You could A, Take me down a shifty alleyway on the way back and kill me. B, you gather up some of your monster friends to kidnap me or-”</p><p>“Geez, You sure are paranoid!” Kokichi rolled his eyes, expression abruptly shifting to irritated. “Look, if I wanted to kill or hurt you, I would’ve done so earlier while you were asleep.”</p><p>Shuichi still wasn’t convinced.</p><p>“Good grief, Mister Detective!” Kokichi exclaimed loudly, leaning back in his chair dramatically. “Alright, whatevs. You don’t have to trust me. But you are curious about me, riiiiiight? Maybe you’ll see that I won’t hurt you if you come with me? I could be lying though! Nishishi!”</p><p>Shuichi sighed. This guy was really… He’d barely known him for a day and yet…. He couldn’t deny that he was, in fact, curious about this strange half-demon that had tried to seduce his way into Shuichi’s home. But he did wonder… was Kokichi trying to tell him the truth about his intentions through weird lies? Damn, there goes his detective brain again.</p><p>“Fine.” Shuichi begrudgingly agreed, grabbing his plate and dumping it next to the sink. He’d clear it away when he returned home.</p><p>“Here’s your keys! Catch!”</p><p>Shuichi barely had time to process what Kokichi had said before he turned around, only to be greeted by a wad of jangling metal hitting him right in the face, clashing to the floor by the detective’s feet.</p><p>“Bullseye!” The half-demon bounced up and down with glee, a grin stretched from ear to ear.</p><p>“What the hell was that for? You could’ve poked my eye out!”</p><p>“But I didn’t, did I? Nishishi!”</p><p>Shuchi had half a mind to walk over to Kokichi and punch him in his stupid, decievingly cute face. Sighing, Shuichi instead bent down to pick his house keys off the floor; pocketing them as he stood up.</p><p>“Alright, we should probably head out now. Where’s your apartment?”</p><p>“Upstairs in room 210,”</p><p>The detective rolled his eyes, thinking that Kokichi was playing some sort of joke on him.</p><p>“Very funny. Seriously, where do you live?” Shuichi gave the other guy a pointed look.</p><p>“I told you. I live just above your apartment. I’m not kidding by the way.” Kokichi lifted up a hand, examining his nails.</p><p>Shuichi’s eye twitched. “Then why’d you ask me to walk you home? Why didn’t you head out by yourself earlier?”</p><p>“Well, it’s not like either of us have anything better to do. Also because I thought the grand reveal would be hilarious.”</p><p>Shuichi had never wanted to deck someone in the face more than now. Hilarious? Grand reveal? What in the fresh hell was wrong with Kokichi?</p><p>“...Sorry.”</p><p>“Huh?” The detective was caught off guard, not at all expecting an apology.</p><p>“I didn’t mean to make you angry. I just wanted to spend a little more time with you, honest.”</p><p>Oh. <em>Oh</em>.</p><p>Although the half-demon tried to gain his attention in a very roundabout and childish manner, Shuichi did admit to himself that he should’ve realised what Kokichi’s motives were earlier. But then again, Kokichi wasn’t an easy person to read.</p><p>“...I’ll still take you back to your apartment, if you want.” Shuichi replied, unable to think of anything to say that wasn’t a half-baked apology, or an irritated quip.</p><p>Kokichi perked up, violet eyes twinkling. “Does this mean that Mister Detective has forgiven me~?”</p><p>“For now.” Shuichi muttered.</p><p>“Huzzah!” Kokichi flung his arms around Shuichi’s torso, beaming up at the latter. “It’s such a shame though…” pouting, Kokichi continued; “My roomate’s stupid boyfriend is over until Monday and he drives me crazy! You know what, the last time he was over to visit, he asked me what an octagon was? How did that guy get through school?” With Kokichi still clinging to his waist, Shuchi shuffled to the front door, attempting to put his shoes on.</p><p>“Is your roommate nice?” Shuichi asked, ignoring Kokichi’s ramble about his roommate’s partner.</p><p>“He’s nice enough, but he’s a little weird,” The half-demon huffed, pulling on his shoes. “And by that, I mean he’s got a bit of a boner for the concept of hope for some reason.”</p><p>“Sounds… Off-putting. ”</p><p>“Trust me-” Kokichi grinned sardonically.“-You get used to it after a while.”</p><p>Shuichi hummed in reply, pushing the door open and stepping outside. “I don’t know if I could…”</p><p>“Look, if his dumbass human boyfriend can, you can too.”</p><p>Shuichi wasn’t so sure about that. At this point, he was barely putting up with Kokichi and his ever fluctuating moods. He did wonder if Kokichi’s roommate knew about him being half-demon though…</p><p>“Let’s just get going.”</p><p>“Good thing it’s only one flight of stairs then!”</p><p>Next thing Shuichi knew, he and Kokichi were standing right in front of the latter’s apartment door. Shuichi felt incredibly anxious, even though he had no real reason to be. It wasn’t like he was meeting a partner’s parents or anything... right? Nope. nopenopenope. He’d only known Kokichi for one day, there was no way that thoughts of dating could come to him this soon. Then again, he’d been single for almost a year now…</p><p>“Oi, Hajime! Open up!” Kokichi yelled, rapping on the door.</p><p>Loud thudding footsteps were followed by someone flinging the door open, almost hitting Shuichi in the face.</p><p>“You idiot! Kokichi, what the hell were you thinking? Why’d you leave your phone at home? We were worried sick-” A frazzled brown-haired guy with a cowlick on top of his head, wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants appeared in the doorway and started yelling at Kokichi, pausing when he saw Shuichi staring at him.</p><p>“Oh! You must be the detective from downstairs!” The guy that Shuichi presumed to be ‘Hajime’ extended his hand, which Shuichi shook. “Kokichi talks about you a lot!”</p><p>He did? But he’d only met him - Ah, he’d probably seen Shuichi heading to work a bunch of times. The detective glanced over at Kokichi, who was glaring at Hajime like he wanted to tear him apart.</p><p>“Yeah! Err, sorry if he was a bit of a handful. He likes to deliberately annoy and worry people. I don’t really understand how Nagito puts up with his nonsense.”</p><p>“Is Nagito…?”</p><p>“Kokichi’s roommate? Yeah. I just come here every now and then to help out with household stuff.”</p><p>“Nagito and I are fine on our own,” Kokichi grumbled.</p><p>“The whole house is a garbage dump! Sorry-” Hajime turned to Shuichi, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. “I didn’t get your name.”</p><p>“I’m Shuichi Saihara. It’s nice to meet you, Hajime-san.” Shuichi bowed politely.</p><p>“It’s good to meet you too, Saihara-kun! I was gonna say, I’d invite you in, but it’s a little… err… messy. Demons are a little hard to deal with sometimes, haha!”</p><p>“Oh, so you know?”</p><p>“Yeah, both Nagito and Kokichi are. I’m guessing that he showed you his demon form?”</p><p>‘Showed’’ wasn’t quite the right word, but Shuichi nodded. Then he realised that Kokichi had suddenly disappeared.</p><p>“Uh, where did he-”</p><p>“Oi, Saihara-chan!” Kokichi suddenly presented the former with a piece of paper, waving it under his face.</p><p>“U-um, what is this…?”</p><p>The half-demon grinned. “It’s my number! I wanna talk to you more often! Besides, I bet this is the only number you’ve gotten in a while, am I right? Also Nagito’s asleep so shhhh.”</p><p>“Kokichi!” Hajime hissed. It wasn’t untrue though.</p><p>“It’s fine… Ummm… th-thank you, Ouma-kun.” Shuichi felt a warm blush creep up his face as he took the paper. How’d he go from wanting to beat the snot out of this guy earlier, to feeling all warm and melty inside? Shuichi guessed Kokichi carried that sort of duality though.</p><p>“Alright, thanks for dropping him back off! I would love to stay out and chat, but I gotta get this guy to clean up his room! Bye!” Pushing Kokichi back inside, he gave Shuichi a little wave, while the former made a gesture with his hands and mouthed, ‘call me’, before the door was shut.</p><p>“Bye,” Shuichi whispered, turning around to walk back downstairs to his apartment, a small smile on his face. Even though he was utterly drained from the new and strange interactions he had over the past hour or so, he’d bonded with some interesting people.</p><p>After getting back to his room, he rushed over to his bed, flopping down on his back with a loud sigh. Reaching over to his desk, he grabbed his phone and unplugged it from the charger, unlocking it and punching Kokichi’s number into his contacts. He couldn’t lie, he was really curious about the half-demon and his strange abilities. Underlying all of Shuichi’s confusion about Kokichi, there was a deep desire to understand, and wanting to know him.</p><p>Shuichi typed out a short text, asking Kokichi if he’d like to hang out again. His thumb hovering over ‘send’ when he was done. Was it a good idea to text him? What if Kokichi had given him a fake number? What if all of this was just an elaborate prank to humiliate Shuichi? what if- okay he was definitely overthinking things this time.</p><p>With a deep breath, Shuichi sent the text, shutting off his phone and immediately tossing it to one side. His heart pounded with an adrenaline rush, nervous to what Kokichi would say in return. After at least five minutes, Shuichi’s phone vibrated, indicating that there was a reply to his message.</p><p>
  <em>‘Hehe, Of course I’d like to! Don’t be so shy, Mister Detective~ Just let me know when and where first~’</em>
</p><p>Shuichi grinned. Maybe this was what he needed after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you managed to stick around, thanks for reading! Criticisms and feedback are always welcome!</p><p>(I spent a whole month writing this God help me)</p><p>Follow me on twitter @enbyrevelation</p></blockquote></div></div>
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